Breaking Out of Policy Silos

Skills for Competitiveness: A Synthesis Report

“…At this level there is evidence of joined-up policy thinking on skills, economic development and employment with HRSDC investing in research into more demand side approaches to skills. However this approach is not always carried down to the provincial or local level (Froy and Giguère, 2010b). In Ontario (the case study region), a wide variety of policies and programmes have been put in place by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to boost productivity and innovation, with an emphasis on identifying best practices, encouraging benchmarking to global standards, supporting internationalisation, funding technology transfer and promoting productivity practices through conferences, training programmes and publications (Verma, 2012).…”

“…A key dimension in supporting the development and delivery of balanced local skills strategies is injecting local flexibility into the management of employment and skills policies (Froy et al, 2009, Froy andGiguère, 2010b). Within the countries participating in this study local stakeholders acting at the level of functional labour markets had limited strategic flexibility and influence over the delivery of employment and skills programmes.…”

Building Flexibility and Accountability Into Local Employment Services: Synthesis of OECD Studies in Belgium, Canada, Denmark and the Netherlands

“…Supporting a joined up approach: OECD LEED research in 11 countries (Froy and Giguère, 2010) has shown that despite the plethora of partnerships which exist in OECD countries, too often there is a functional separation between economic development and human resource development at the local level. Different strategies are pursued by different actors and often in contradiction with one another.…”

“…A variety of studies by the OECD LEED Programme have determined that more flexibility in the management of programmes is required for labour market policy to contribute fully to local strategies for economic growth and social inclusion (OECD 2003;Giguère, 2008;Giguère and Froy, 2009;Froy and Giguère, 2010). A LEED study carried out in 11 OECD countries (Froy and Giguère, 2010) sought to identify the most important factors influencing the ability of local actors to deliver integrated policies in the fields of employment, skills and economic development on the ground.…”

“…A LEED study carried out in 11 OECD countries (Froy and Giguère, 2010) sought to identify the most important factors influencing the ability of local actors to deliver integrated policies in the fields of employment, skills and economic development on the ground. The factors analysed included cooperation between government departments at the national level, cooperation between government and other stakeholders at the local level, and local capacities (skills and resources).…”